FateAcademy:Season 2
by AthenoxSaber
Summary: Athenox must now face a whole new set of challenges in the new semester at Avalon Academy, not more than a few months after tragedy had befallen him. Can he still maintain his cool in the Castmaster tournament after his fake personality shatters?


Fate/Academy: Season 2: Episode 1

*A large round table sits in the middle of a room. Six major figures sit around the table with more people sitting in between them. An army of guards circles the room. At the head of the table facing towards the doors, a man stands up and speaks. Scene 1.*

"If you all could please quiet down so I could get this meeting started." The figure is a relatively taller than average man, wearing a navy blue suit with a white button-up shirt and a blue and gold tie. He appears to be relatively young, and probably somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties in terms of physical appearance.

"Yes, Please! I am dying to know what is so important that you had to call us in earlier than the scheduled world council meeting. Also why did we have to meet in The Holy Council capitol?" A woman in an ice blue royal dress suit complains. She is the leader of the Glacial Coast faction.

"Uh oh Holy Council. You seem to have upset Glacial Coast. I recommend that you fix it before she has a meltdown." A man in a brown business suit jokes. This man is the leader of the Grand North E.A.S.T. faction.

"I am not! I am just saying that this could have been done over a video conference call or something. Flying all the way out to Justice Point seems a little unnecessary outside of ceremonial gatherings of course." She replies back.

"I would gladly tell you, if you would just give me the time to explain." The man in the navy blue suit, or the Holy Council leader at the table responds.

"As you all know, about a month and a half ago an incident occurred at Avalon Academy from within Avalon City." The Holy Council leader pushes a button on the table and a projection appears. It shows the dragon spirit that flew over the school.

"Yes Holy Council, and we were all briefed on the reports from our various sources in the city." A man in a green suit who leads the Floral Valley faction, abruptly cuts in.

"With all due respect, please let me finish explaining." He clears his throat.

"So as you all know, the schools magic core was tampered with and a corrupted spirit was able to break through the temporary gap in the defenses that was created. We do not know how it was able to jump past the cities defenses and show up at the school. However, we do know that the school became a temporary corrupted zone and most of the students present began to get infected by the plague. We also know that the school's Elite Defense Team were compromised from the beginning and that the Elite Combat Team had to step in. Or at least all of the members present. Which were two members…." All of the people in the room and even a few of the guards standing in the back of the room lower their heads. The leader of the Holy Council turns to one of the staff members sitting next to him.

"Once again, I am deeply sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Mr. Tohsaka. If only my daughter were able to handle as well as I am.

"My son feels horrible for the situation as well. They were close friends and he wishes that he could have been there to save him. You also have my condolences." The Grand North E.A.S.T leader bows his head before sitting back down.

"And the other Elite Combat Team member was one, Athenox Emiya." The whole room gasps at the announcement of the last name.

"The descendant of the Undercity filth?" The Glacial Coast leader says.

"I bet he is the one responsible for summoning that dragon spirit. That sounds like something that an Emiya would do." A man in a gray and white suit says from his spot on the table. He is the leader of Grand South E.A.S.T., or the sister faction of Grand North E.A.S.T. which stands for Earth and Sky Temples.

"Easy there, Edelfelt. I suggest you recall the previous facts before jumping to harsh unrealistic conclusions." A man in a flame red suit says. He is the leader of the Emberfall faction.

"Emberfall, you were sitting there quietly the whole time so I was starting to wonder when you were going to show up. As well as what it was going to take for you to make a response." The Holy Council leader says sarcastically.

"Look El-Melloi, I get your hesitancy to accept the facts as they are given you affiliation with the unofficial Kinetic faction, which is also to a lesser extent, the Bladedancer clan. However, I think you need to differentiate that as of the most recent analysis of the situation, the subject in question is an Emiya from the Undercity faction. Also, our scout's reports from the last assessment show us that Athenox Emiya was the active sixth in command of the Undercity forces and commander of the Reaper Squadron, an elite counter magic unit that were essentially Hades Emiya's first response kill forces. So with that evidence, it isn't an impossibility that he would do the same type of activities to the poor helpless students of Avalon" The leader of Glacial Point tries to reason with the leader of Emberfall. The now enraged leader stands up and draws his noble phantasm weapon. It is a long curved katana. The Glacial Coast leader pulls out a staff in response. A few of the guards at the back of the room and secretaries at the table start to panic and whisper to each other.

"Oh no! He just summoned Muramasa."

"Muramasa, wasn't that the sword used to end the wrathful mother's rage in the Second Great Mage War."

"Yeah the sword is bloodthirsty and literally burns with anger. And El-Melloi has been the only successful wielder of it in nearly 10,000 years. Every other wielder that tried to use it snapped and ended up slaughtering a lot of innocent lives."

"But, look at the Glacial Coast leader. She just drew the Staff of the Iron Curtain. The staff is able to create ice as strong as steel and conjure a blizzard full of it that can shred people in half."

"Are we going to need to take shelter from the battle that is about to unfold?" The whispers continue intermittently.

"Enough!" The Holy Council leader shouts as he puts his hands by his side, readying to draw his sword.

"Now El-Melloi, please calm down. We are not here to accuse Athenox Emiya of anything. And you Mrs. Yggdmillennia, need to stand down. Emberfall takes accusations against its member's kin very seriously which includes the Bladedancer's through the official pact between them. And need I remind everyone that Avalon is a city built as a reminder of the very reason in which humanity survived the corrupted event from a million years ago. Because we all stood unified against the corruption and put our differences aside. And Avalon city is a neutral city of peace, and I would imagine that the boy just wants a fresh start after all of the sin that he has had to live through within Undercity. However, if it will put all of your minds at ease then I suggest that we could use our resources within the city to inquire what his real intentions are."

"Fine then, we will send a full team of scouts into the school when he is off guard and interrogate him until he tells us what he intends to do in Avalon Academy and even if he was responsible for the attacks." The Grand North E.A.S.T. leader proclaims.

The Glacial Coast leader and the Emberfall leader both dismiss their weapons and take their seats again.

"You think that capturing him and forcing the information out of him is necessary, or that it will even work? This is someone who in a past life was a trained soldier and is also a teenage boy." The Glacial Coast leader says as she laughs.

"If you really want information out of the boy, then have someone close to him pry the love hooks into him and he will probably spill his intentions along with the rest of his heart." She continues.

"Someone close to him, huh? Who do you suggest will do that?" Grand North E.A.S.T. asks the table.

"Since this is the route we have decided to follow, then most of us know what the upcoming answer is. He is on the Avalon Academy's Elite Combat Team, which is a team comprised mostly of our own children. Including our daughters." Emberfall eyes the leaders at the table up and down the line from left to right.

"That is an outrage! Holy Council, certainly you of all people agree that we shouldn't be throwing our daughters at him. " Grand South E.A.S.T. shouts as he slams his fist into the table.

"Actually, for the potential safety of the citizens of Avalon and other factional territories I would find the suggestion to be well worth the risk. Besides, if your daughter is properly raised to understand the only real value in such tasks and hold no emotional stock in them, then it shouldn't matter. On one condition though, El-Melloi."

"What is it, Tohsaka?"

"You seem to be in favor of this decision because of the fact that you currently don't hold any of the burden attached to it having only one son." Holy Council asks

"I guess that would be an unfortunate set of circumstances that I hold no control over." Emberfall replies.

"But, what if our entire strategy fails because of the one critical piece of information that we based it on was false." As Holy Council speaks, Emberfall lowers his head as he must have already started to realized what was about to be asked of him.

"What if the whole plan fails because we assumed his love interests? You know how embarrassed each and every one of our daughters would feel after that, right?"

"And you think that my son will feel any less embarrassed if he has to inquire that possibility and go against his own personal wishes? It will be bad for each of us no matter how you look at it though. So if it covers our bases and assures the strategies then once we have confirmed that an initial strategy has failed, then I will do what needs to be done. It is more likely for your daughter though because she is partnering with him in the upcoming Castmaster tournament, is she not?" Emberfall asks, already knowing the answer.

"Maybe, but I guess we will just have to see how this unfolds. Our jobs as parents may have just gotten a lot harder, but our jobs as world leaders may have gotten only a slightly bit easier." Holy Council buries his face into his palm in disbelief for what official action was just purposed and will soon be taken by the World Council.

*Athenox is by himself in the corrupted zone outside of Avalon City. He is fighting corrupted spirits seemingly without end. Scene 2.*

I dodge an attack from a wraith before I recover and swing upwards, slicing it in half before it disintegrates. Another one tries to jump at me, but I can evade and slice it out of existence before it can counter my attack. Two wraiths seem to come out of nowhere and slam me back with sword strikes. I manage to regain my footing before looking at them. They are knights in full armor. I charge in at them and they try to swing but their movements are easily noticeable and avoidable. I slide left and impale one of them. Using him as a shield while the other one swings away. Killing the wraith attached to my sword. I then cross swords with the other one. He can certainly maintain his speed just fine. I only break the exchange by displacing behind him and slicing his head off before he could turn around. He evaporates just like the last one.

It is the last day of winter break before school starts and it has been like this all week. The knight spirits dropped metal fragments from their armor and their swords. However, the swords didn't appear to be too special but I took them anyway for scrap along with their spirit essence of course. This is all I have really been doing since Connor's funeral, aside from school work and work for the Elite Combat Team, which technically includes this. Over winter break, I have been out here pretty much nonstop. Mrs. of course found out and suggested that I stop. I of course refused her and she gave in and said that she would approve it under a few conditions. First, I had to take mandatory breaks and make sure I got enough sleep when I come back every night. Second, I had to have a goal in mind. Some form of measurable progress that would give meaning to my spectral slaughter. Oh, and she has me put a magic status sensor every day when leave, so that she can keep track of my magic circuits under prolonged periods of stressful combat and in case I faint, get paralyzed, or overload again because all three have been known to happen to me. Everyone else eventually found out about it too, and they were all pretty concerned about it. They asked me if I was doing this to serve as a way of beating myself up about what happened to Connor, or even some sick and twisted notion of revenge. And I am not, at least I don't think that I am consciously trying to beat myself up. My mom was the most worried when I told her that I wasn't coming back home for break. She was also a little upset that I was going to miss her holiday dinner. She did understand what had happened, and that I was going to need space to process somehow, and that if I was at home, I would have been grieving in ways that are more dangerous to the public. I shove the spirit's items into a bag and carry them back to the transport aircraft that I have been using. I don't really know how to fly it but Eric and Corey set up an autopilot command that goes between here and the school. I am really exhausted, but thankfully school is about to get back in session tomorrow and I have gathered more than enough material to reach my goal and have enough for the gathering team craft enough magic devices for both of the other teams. While the craft flies back to the school. I take a nap in the back.

*It is the next day, and Athenox is sitting at the lunch table with his friends. It is immediately noticeable that most of the freshman girls and Devin have blushing and embarrassed looks on their faces. Luke is also trying his best not to laugh. Scene 3*

As I am eating I can't help but notice how quiet everyone is, except for Luke who is as obnoxious as ever with his laughter.

"What is so funny, Luke? You seem to be the only one making any noise at the table." I say to him.

"Idiot…I don't see you adding anything to the nonexistent conversation either." He says to me.

"Caliburn."

"Galantine." We both draw out weapons on each other.

Although unlike usual, the table seems to be far more nonreactive than usual. In fact, if Miraldes and Mary didn't kick us in the shins autonomously, then there would have been no reaction at all.

"Hey, what gives? I don't understand. At this point I would have expected a comment from Sarah about how immature and stupid we are being." After having been knocked into our seats.

"Well…I think that you need to be quiet. I am done with my lunch, so I am going to hang out with some less… silent people. Also, don't be so much of an oblivious idiot. Maybe if you tried talking instead of shoving your face, they might be compelled to respond back to you. Anyway, peace." Luke stands up and walks away from the table.

Shoving my face? What is he talking about? I wasn't eating any more than I usually do. They all must have had a pretty uninteresting break because they really haven't said much at all today. Hmm, I bet if I get their mind on school events this semester, then it may get their attention. After all, there is Castmaster coming up this weekend.

"So guys, anybody made any improvements on their magic over the break. I know that with Castmaster coming up, we are going to want to pull out all of the stops on our power. To edge out ahead of other teams."

"I had been trying to figure out how to take advantage of my weapon chains. Maybe for grappling and swinging places." Macy says.

As someone who has been a target of those chains, I really don't think that she needs any more practice with them. My right arm still feels twisted and has a scar from the chains getting caught on my arm and then getting seared with a lightning blast from Zach's weapon in a painful combination. Having no magic barrier or mystic armor to absorb the blast left permanent damage on the arm that will probably never heal. Luckily enough, none of the students who had been corrupted seem to remember what had happened that night. Which is probably for the best. I didn't realize it but the group of Saber and Archer students on the staircase had died that night. I didn't think that they were dead after Justin used Ea to blast them, but if they had been left there long enough, then there was a great possibility that they had bled out overnight. I feel bad, but it was Justin who had killed them. Giving me yet another reason to hate his guts. Macy was the only one to respond. That officially makes her the most talkative at the table right now, which is really weird considering it is usually impossible to get much in the way of words out of her.

"Is everyone going to watch or compete in Castmaster? I know that you were having some debate about who you should pick as your servant in the competition, Adam. Did you finally decide on someone?" I continue to speak.

"Um, yeah. I am going to pick Devin or as we should start referring to him as "the guy awkwardly shoving his face into his third bowl of noodles today"." Devin looks up.

"Man, are you okay? This is a bit excessive for you. If I was keeping track, then I would say that you have almost eaten more than I usually do. Are you stressed about something? I can help if I need to."

His face turns red before he dives back into the bowl of food he has before him. If I know my culinary dishes very well, then based on the amount of slurping sounds I would guess that he is eating Ramen. I guess it is my turn to speak again since no one else is. I don't really know what else I am supposed to say. I could talk about something from my past since they usually find it pretty interesting, but it would be pretty random and most of it involves stuff you shouldn't talk about at a meal like violent battles and gruesome death. I lose my patience.

"Alright! What the hell is going on with you guys?" I stand up and slam my fists down on the table.

My tone was a little more forceful and angry than I was going for. They all look up at me. It is kind of making me nervous. Are they all sick? Because most of their faces share the same unnaturally red complexion and I can't figure out why?

"You guys are usually a lot more talkative than this. I normally wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise. I really can't lead conversations well and you guys are killing me here. Please, throw me a lifeline or something. And did something bad happen over winter break? Did you guys get sick? Did I do something wrong? I am your teammate and I am actively concerned over the redness in your face. If there is a problem, please tell me so that I can do my best to fix it." My voice gradually gets louder from me expressing my concern to my friends.

Their faces get redder.

"Athenox, please quiet down! Nothing is wrong and we are all fine!"

"No, you guys are clearly not fine. The redness in your faces is not natural and therefore not fine. If I need to take you all to the infirmary, then please let me know and I will carry each of you one by one. And your faces only seem to get redder when I speak. So it must be my fault right? Fine, if it is me, then let me leave now so that you all may get better!"

By this time, I am so frustrated that I am shouting loud enough that the whole cafeteria goes silent and stares at our table. I notice the sudden attention on me in the cafeteria and lower my voice.

"Oh by the way. Jane, you still want to meet up after school for training right?"

"Um. Yes. Yes I do want to meet up. I mean for training. For Castmaster and evaluating each other's abilities. Like only magecraft and fighting though." She nervously manages to confirm our meeting after school. She isn't known for being socially awkward like that. I would say that that job usually falls to me. She may just be nervous because I got the whole cafeteria's attention. I walk out of the cafeteria, after having already eaten.

*Athenox is in a room full of sleeping mats. In the Elite Combat Team's student organization building. Scene 4.*

This setup is a little weird but it is something that we have all gotten used to. I sit there on my sleeping mat. As a result of the corrupted spirit attack, The Saber, Lancer, and Archer dormitories were damaged pretty badly. And while they had tried to finish repairing them over the winter break while all of the students weren't here. They were unable to, so Mrs. proposed that all of the students in a major student organization use the extra space in their buildings as temporary member housing and the room slots that were freed up in the other dorms could be used for students who lived in one of those dorms and also wasn't in a major club. As a result, we cleared this room out and put down mats to sleep on. Mrs. had extended facilities put downstairs to use, which makes me even more curious about the connections that she has in order to get them done so fast. Since we are all on a team together, we learned to make it work.

"Hey are you changed and ready for training?" Jane walks in and asks me. She is wearing a pair of black shorts and a blue zip up jacket that has the Holy Councils upper left corner of her chest, over where her heart is.

"Yeah, but don't you think it is a little unnecessary, considering we are going to have mystic code armor?"

"Nonsense! It is important to dress for what you are the occasion. And training is no exception. I only wish that I could find my jacket instead of having to use Mary's. I think I might have left it at home over the break…" She looks at my clothes and stops.

"What is it?"

"I asked you if you were ready and had changed and all you did was change shirts. Black jeans and a black t-shirt are not proper clothes for exercising in. You are going to burn up wearing all black like that."

"This?"

I look down at what I am wearing. Black jeans held up with a black leather belt that has a silver buckle. The black t-shirt I am wearing has a skulls on both of the shoulders and a white star on the front with some weird lettering running down the side. On top of my usual black shoes. It is an old t-shirt I picked out from a store when I was in my prime as the leader of Reaper Squadron. Meaning I was really good at dressing in a way that would concern most people, even people in Undercity.

"I dressed like this all of the time in back on my operations in Undercity and I never burned up then."

"It makes you look stygian. I think that you should at least buy a different colored t-shirt to wear. I won't let that dress like that for Castmaster. Now come on, we need to go."

*Athenox and Jane are on an arena. Scene 5.*

"Where do we start?" I ask Jane.

"I want to duel you first, so that I can get a better understanding of what you can do. After that we can then determine what we need to focus our training on. A big part of Castmaster is all about mana conservation, so don't deploy your mystic code armor yet." It is reassuring that her face has returned to its normal color, since lunch. Duel her huh?

"Caliburn!" I reach my hand out and summon my blade.

"Azoth Blade!" Her dagger appears in her hand.

"Do you want to engage the arenas countdown, or should I?"

"I will do it." She presses a button on her wristband. The arena projects a holographic board overhead. It starts counting down.

"5…4…3…2…1…Start!" I rush towards her. She is a Caster mage, so minimizing the distance between us is critical. I empower my weapon as I close in. She doesn't make a move until I am within a meter of her when she pushes the palm of her hand into my gut. An explosion causes me to fly back. I recover my footing. Was that a strike with her hands? She is a Caster right? I look at her stance. She is holding the spell blade but is only using it as a conduit for her magic. She isn't readied like she is going to be much of a mobile target either.

"Make a move already… or I will."

She starts to throw projectiles of light. I run around the perimeter of the arena. Swinging Caliburn and knocking them a few of them down, but the barrage seems to be more extensive than I realized. Fine, counter mage tactics it is then. I overload my sword and throw it behind me in to the projectiles, causing them to go unstable and detonate. I then reengage by rushing in and striking at her blade. I can evade whatever attack she made from close range with palm of her hand and empower my blade and push her back. Compared to most mages who fight with physical melee weapons, I am incredibly weak and can be pushed back pretty easy. Against a Caster, I have the upper hand in physical force. As I knock her back she releases another flurry of projectiles. If I am going to find a more permanent solution to those then I need to use my void to analyze them. I swing my sword at the barrage, destructing as many of them as I can. I unfortunately can't knock them all away and take part of the projectiles at full force.

"Athenox, you should at least try not to get hit. What happened to you evading them?" Jane tells me. It is hard to tell if she is taunting me or actually trying to help me.

"So they are solid energy structures with a physical form?"

I can tell partly from getting hit by them and from using my detection. I throw Caliburn away, dismissing it before I summon a new readjusted copy. I have to account for the properties of the projectiles. They are almost crystalline in structure. I then empower the blade and slam it into the ground before rushing up to her as she tries to fire more projectiles.

"How did you?" I launch my fists into her center forcing her back again.

"I have been practicing and solidifying what I already know. I can use my counter magic through my blade and with void I can detect and negate a spell by matching the spells coding, or incantation. Activated by me empowering the sword and slamming it into the ground. She recovers and lands on her feet before reaching the wall of the arena.

"I see. I guess that you are above just free firing at." She points her phantasm weapon at me. Two black crystal shaped familiars shoot up from her hands and circle above her.

"Azoth Sword, overflow from capacity!" She shouts as an unnaturally dark ball of energy charges up from the blade.

That is doesn't make any sense. She is a holy affinity mage, right? I mean she grew up under the Holy Council faction. The ball fires and disperses into smaller beams that fly towards me. They are far faster than the light spells that she was using before. I throw my blade and try to displace away from them, but I can't out maneuver them. It is like they are locked on to me. I can't Counterspell them like the last ones and I can't run forever. My leg enhancements will eventually burn out. If I don't want to get knocked out then I guess I will have to use it. Between that and Caliburn I might be able to generate enough strike speed to take them all down, but I don't want to have to resort to that if I can help it. By the time I notice the beams they have already hit me. I am knocked on to my back and my chest is burning. I look down to see that the beams have seared through my shirt.

"What happened? You looked like you had a handle on things and then you just froze."

"Sorry, it won't happen again. I was trying to think of a way to outmaneuver whatever those beams were. It is nearly impossible to identify when you don't say much of an incantation for it."

"Do I look like a beginner Caster mage to you? Most Casters have trained to the point that they don't really need to say the spell name for it to work. Just like think it, with their bodies following specific positions depending on the what type of spell that they are about to cast."

"So kind of like how a fighter will assume a different stance depending on how they are using their weapon?"

"Yes, that is a good way to think about it."

"I had never considered it like that. I just assumed that they those positions based off of whatever would get the most momentum from the spell, in the case of projectile spells."

"Let's go again, until you get it right. Statistically, around half of all the opponents that you will be facing are going to be Caster mages. So that makes this very important. And mana projectiles aren't the only thing you will have to put with. As my servant I hope you handle that." Jane says with a voice that almost sounds like she is trying to boss me around.

She restarts the countdown and resumes the attacks, but this time she starts to move and chase after me more. The spells are no longer just light orbs that burn a little bit when they touch you. They start to alternate colors, and from taking a few of them to the ankle, back, and shoulders, they also change elemental effect which doesn't make sense. However, I don't have the time to question it as I am running for my life. She doesn't seem to be worn out or anywhere close to mana drain.

"You probably won't be able to keep outrunning me forever. So you should try to stop me."

I wonder if she has ever seen my matches before and knows me well enough. I toss the sword across the arena in front of where she should be if she doesn't adjust her movement. When I get there I find myself able to strike at her. She uses the blade to block out of reflex. Caliburn lands the hit. I empower and spin myself around with a backswing. The pommel manages to connect with her wrist and I time an empowered strike to disrupt her casting from her right hand and using the phantasm weapon, at the cost of the dull blade of her weapon grazing across my forearm and cutting it open. Blood pours out of the wound.

"Are you okay?" Jane says as I grab my arm in pain. The structure of her blade flashes into my head. Along with that desert I keep seeing in my dreams.

"Yes, I am. I have endured much worse growing up. We need to keep going, remember what you said."

"That may be, but you don't want it to get infected. Come on! I think we need to take a break, and get your arm healed. Then we can go over what you did wrong and right. Besides I think you temporarily stopped me from being able to cast because my right hand feels numb." I will have to test it but that may have been enough to copy her weapon.

*Athenox and Jane are sitting alone in the Organization building. They are sitting in one of the empty training rooms. Scene 6.*

"I still can't believe you could disrupt mana flow like that. I have never seen a technique that hindering before. It still feels weird and I don't even think that I would be able to focus my aim at all, even with familiars for targeting." She says as she massages her wrist.

"That is one of the critical things you have to realize about spell casters it requires proper mana flow. And mana flows through your body to wherever you use it from. Whether it is your legs for enhancement or your arms and hands for your spells and phantasm weapon. Also you have to not fall into the trap of overestimating your own abilities. That is what usually makes it easier to counter another mage. If they overlook any detail in their abilities then a weak point is created in their attack. For example, you were on the right track to flat out destroying me with a barrage of mana spells. Countermagic has a limit to how much it can handle, because the user has to detect the projectiles and adjust their own abilities for them. I have a much easier time doing this because of my void magic. The only problem is that you only pursued me with offensive mana projectile spells. You got caught in the mindset of thinking that only those would have been good enough. I made the reckless move and put myself close enough to dispel you because also neglected to consider any other movement I could have made, but I will let that go since this was your first time fighting me."

"Well excuse me, I was working my way up to it when you had to throw yourself into me and get your arm cut open." The bandage wrapped around my arm is clearly visible.

"I have a question about that." I shift the tone from explaining and accusing to casually inquiring.

"Why did we never switch into our mystic codes again? You had said that it was for mana conversion, but what is so important about it?"

"I didn't fully explain the rules of Castmaster yet, did I?"

"No, you did not."

"I must have forgotten. Anyway, in Castmaster. There are as I told you before two person teams, or three if you are a Caster in the senior class and can support it. A Caster who is the master and another student who is the servant. Sometime before the competition starts the master and servant are linked in a pact. The Master becomes the source of mana for both themselves and the servant. Casters have a large enough mana pool compared to other mages, so it would be fine in most cases. However, a servant needs the master to have enough mana for the servant or the servant is put on a time clock and will be eliminated from the competition if the master can't generate enough mana in time. Mana can of course be regained through normal methods for the master, but not the servant. If through some circumstance a master loses their servant and a servant loses their master than as a last resort a master will have to quickly form a new contract with that servant before their stockpile of mana from the previous master is depleted and they are eliminated. That is why it is critical for a Caster competing in the competition as a master to carefully choose a servant who they can cooperate with and rely on. I instead chose someone who I think might have an upper hand that I have never really trained or fought with before." She explains.

"Yeah it sounds like it is going to be tough trying MANAge both of our magical energy levels in combat." She sighs heavily before responding.

"Bad pun aside, you are right which is why we are going to need to go over each other's abilities and how draining they are. While most teams can handle this fairly easily, we will not be able to because of how irregular you are. You don't seem to have the same mana pool that normal Saber mages have so you will have to take that into consideration, and you also have been known to have your difficulties that we will have to account for. Passing out in the middle of combat or sudden paralysis could be very bad considering you can still get eliminated by knockout."

"Then that means Overloading will be bad too, since it bursts all of my mana at once and leaves me drained and knocked out. I would imagine that it will be a very consuming thing to do."

"Yes, so avoid getting yourself into a reckless situation that would cause it." Easier said than done, but if there is any way to then I will.

"That concerns me because if we are really trying to save mana then I may lose my edge. Because I need to be able to rapidly re-summon Caliburn for a Counterspell. Or summoning in general if I intend to replicate a weapon."

"I would consider saving Counterspells until it is really beneficial, because you will find it easier to evade because of the servant pact. Just trust me on that. Your weapon replication might come in handy, only use it when it is absolutely necessary to win a fight. Also, if you want to reduce its cost and make it harder for an opponent to figure out what you are doing. You could try practicing it with a command style incantation. Just pick something like "Replicate Summon" or something and then stick with it." Replicate Summon? I think that sounds a little too cheesy and obvious to be seriously saying it in combat. But the concept is there. I will just work on coming up with a better phrase than that. I use my detection to trace out the structure of the phantasm weapon that I want to use. Which is usually a sword. The formal summoning ritual for making weapons that aren't your own requires you to follow that seven step process going through the properties of the weapon right? Maybe something like "Weapon detected", or "Analysis complete". Even "Phantasm forged". No, none of those have a nice ring to it.

"What about your magecraft? Excuse the crude assumption but Casters tend to go overboard with high cost magecraft. I am not even sure what you were doing in the arena. I was expecting light magic since you are from Holy Council."

"I can manage just fine trust me. I am honestly pretty close to you when it comes to having more mana than is average for my class. Because my affinity isn't holy light. At least not in the traditional sense."

"Then what is it?"

"It is another, more rare subfocus of light. Called Arcane or Celestial depending on which set of ancient texts you look in. It has its own niche things just like void does, except it doesn't have any weird or broken side effects. It allows me to keep casting for far longer than normal mages. It has been something that I have had to hide for most of my life. Most of the school doesn't know because they can't. I use its magic through my Phantasm weapon, the Azoth Sword. Which was given to me because of its natural ability to store and contain an excessive amount of mana as a reserve, and its ability to release it in massive light explosions."

That reminds me of the full empowerment of Caliburn. It releases a full blast of mana as a dark beam of energy that I slam down in a strike, but I doubt that I would be able to do that with her phantasm weapon because of how small it is. Although I would need the blade in my hand to test it out. Or if I could manage it, two of them.

"I will go over the full list of my abilities later and how draining they are later." Jane says.

"Azoth Swords!" I say as I materialize the weapons in my hand, after tracing their structure earlier.

"Wow, when did you get enough contact on them to scan my weapon?"

"When this happened." I show her my bandaged arm.

"I was honestly just seeing if I could even modify the summoning to have two of them."

"Ok, but if you shout "Azoth Swords!" every time as your incantation command, then I will dropkick you down the stairs starting from the flight deck."

"Oh sorry, let me do that again. I forgot to say the command because I was so focused on trying to modify the summoning." I toss the pair of blades aside overloading them and destroying them. I clear my throat and redo the summoning.

"Trace On!" I shout as the weapons appear in my hand.

*End of Episode 1.*


End file.
